AMD Radeon RX 5600 XT vs NVIDIA GeForce GTX 780 Ti Comparison

The Verdict

The recorded data presents a decisive outcome: the AMD Radeon RX 5600 XT wins all three head-to-head benchmark comparisons against the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 780 Ti. The GTX 780 Ti, a Kepler-era flagship from late 2013, posts an average benchmark score of 24,236, placing it in the 70th percentile of all GPUs. The RX 5600 XT, built on RDNA 1.0 and released in early 2020, achieves an average score of 20,713, which places it in the 66th percentile. Despite the lower percentile ranking, the RX 5600 XT dominates in every direct comparison, with the largest margin being a 77.4% advantage in Geekbench Metal.

The data indicates the RX 5600 XT is the appropriate pick for users who prioritize compute performance in modern API workloads. Its wins in Metal, OpenCL, and Vulkan are substantial, ranging from 51.5% to 77.4%. The GTX 780 Ti, while still competitive in its percentile bracket, shows its age in these specific tests. It sits marginally behind the GTX 1630 (0.2% delta) and the RX 6600 XT (0.8% delta), yet slightly ahead of the RTX 2080 SUPER (0.3% delta) and the RX 6800S (0.7% delta). This suggests the GTX 780 Ti holds its own among a mixed group of much newer cards in aggregate scoring, but the RX 5600 XT is simply a different class of performer in the tests recorded.

For users seeking a card with a higher peak frame rate potential, the RX 5600 XT offers a 34.5% higher FP32 throughput (7.188 TFLOPS versus 5.345 TFLOPS). For those constrained by power delivery, the RX 5600 XT draws 150 W versus the GTX 780 Ti's 250 W. The GTX 780 Ti does retain advantages in memory bandwidth (336.6 GB/s versus 288.0 GB/s) and texture fill rate (222.7 GTexel/s versus 224.6 GTexel/s, a negligible 0.9% difference), but these do not translate into benchmark victories. The verdict is clear: the RX 5600 XT is the superior choice in the measured workloads, and the GTX 780 Ti should only be considered for legacy system compatibility or specific use cases where its older interface and output options are required.

Architecture Differences

The two cards represent fundamentally different eras of GPU design. The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 780 Ti uses the GK110B chip on the Kepler architecture, manufactured on a 28 nm process at TSMC. It contains 7,080 million transistors on a die size of 561 mm², yielding a transistor density of 12.6 million per mm². The AMD Radeon RX 5600 XT uses the Navi 10 chip on RDNA 1.0, also built by TSMC but on a 7 nm process. This newer node allows 10,300 million transistors on a much smaller 251 mm² die, achieving a density of 41.0 million per mm², more than three times the density of the Kepler chip.

The memory subsystems differ significantly. The GTX 780 Ti ships with 3 GB of GDDR5 on a 384-bit bus, producing a bandwidth of 336.6 GB/s. The RX 5600 XT uses 6 GB of GDDR6 on a 192-bit bus, which delivers 288.0 GB/s. Although the older card has a wider bus and higher bandwidth, the newer card doubles the capacity, which is crucial for modern texture-heavy workloads. Clock speeds also favor the AMD part: the RX 5600 XT has a base clock of 1130 MHz, a game clock of 1375 MHz, and a boost clock of 1560 MHz, while the GTX 780 Ti operates at a base of 875 MHz and a boost of 928 MHz. Memory clocks show 12 Gbps effective for the RX 5600 XT versus 7 Gbps effective for the GTX 780 Ti.

Compute resources are configured differently. The GTX 780 Ti has more shading units (2880 versus 2304) and more texture mapping units (240 versus 144), but fewer ROPs (48 versus 64). The RX 5600 XT counters with a higher pixel rate (99.84 GPixel/s versus 55.68 GPixel/s) and a higher texture rate (224.6 GTexel/s versus 222.7 GTexel/s, a virtual tie). FP32 compute favors the AMD card at 7.188 TFLOPS versus 5.345 TFLOPS, a 34.5% advantage. The RX 5600 XT also lists FP16 performance at 14.38 TFLOPS (2:1 ratio), while the GTX 780 Ti has no recorded FP16 figure.

API support shows a generational gap. The GTX 780 Ti supports DirectX 12 (11_1), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.2.175. The RX 5600 XT supports DirectX 12 (12_1), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.4. The newer card also uses PCIe 4.0 x16, while the older card is limited to PCIe 3.0 x16. Display outputs differ as well: the GTX 780 Ti offers 2x DVI, 1x HDMI 1.4a, and 1x DisplayPort 1.2, while the RX 5600 XT provides 1x HDMI 2.0b and 3x DisplayPort 1.4a. Power requirements drop from a 250 W TDP with a 600 W suggested PSU and dual connectors (1x 6-pin and 1x 8-pin) to a 150 W TDP with a 450 W suggested PSU and a single 8-pin connector. Both cards are dual-slot and share the same 267 mm length. The GTX 780 Ti has a launch MSRP of 699 USD and the RX 5600 XT has a launch MSRP of 279 USD.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The head-to-head benchmark data contains three recorded tests, and the AMD Radeon RX 5600 XT wins all three. In Geekbench Metal, the RX 5600 XT scores 80,376 against the GTX 780 Ti's 18,144, a delta of 77.4% in favor of AMD. This is the largest margin of the three tests and indicates a massive advantage in Apple's Metal compute API. The GTX 780 Ti's score here is only 22.6% of the AMD card's result, which shows how far compute architecture has progressed since Kepler.

Geekbench OpenCL shows a similar story. The RX 5600 XT posts 68,537, while the GTX 780 Ti manages 27,326. The delta is 60.1% in favor of AMD. In raw percentage terms, the newer card is more than two and a half times faster in this cross-platform compute test. The GTX 780 Ti's OpenCL score is 39.9% of the RX 5600 XT's, a clear gap that aligns with the FP32 throughput difference.

Geekbench Vulkan narrows the gap but still favors AMD. The RX 5600 XT scores 56,218, and the GTX 780 Ti scores 27,238, a delta of 51.5%. This is the closest result of the three, but it remains a decisive victory for the AMD card. The GTX 780 Ti's Vulkan score is 48.5% of the RX 5600 XT's, meaning the older card delivers less than half the performance in this modern low-level API. Across all three tests, the GTX 780 Ti records zero wins, while the RX 5600 XT records three.

FAQ

Q: Which card has a higher average benchmark score?

A: The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 780 Ti has an average benchmark score of 24,236, which is higher than the AMD Radeon RX 5600 XT's average of 20,713.

Q: Why does the RX 5600 XT win the head-to-head tests if the GTX 780 Ti has a higher average score?

A: The average scores are computed across different benchmark suites. The head-to-head comparisons only include Geekbench Metal, OpenCL, and Vulkan, where the RX 5600 XT wins by margins of 77.4%, 60.1%, and 51.5%, respectively. The GTX 780 Ti's higher average comes from its performance in other recorded tests.

Q: How do the memory configurations compare?

A: The GTX 780 Ti has 3 GB of GDDR5 on a 384-bit bus with 336.6 GB/s bandwidth. The RX 5600 XT has 6 GB of GDDR6 on a 192-bit bus with 288.0 GB/s bandwidth.

Q: What are the power requirements for each card?

A: The GTX 780 Ti has a TDP of 250 W and requires a 600 W suggested PSU with 1x 6-pin and 1x 8-pin connectors. The RX 5600 XT has a TDP of 150 W and requires a 450 W suggested PSU with a single 8-pin connector.

Q: Which card supports newer display outputs?

A: The RX 5600 XT supports 1x HDMI 2.0b and 3x DisplayPort 1.4a. The GTX 780 Ti supports 2x DVI, 1x HDMI 1.4a, and 1x DisplayPort 1.2.

Q: How close is the GTX 780 Ti to its nearest rivals in the database?

A: The GTX 780 Ti is 0.2% behind the GTX 1630, 0.3% ahead of the RTX 2080 SUPER, 0.7% ahead of the RX 6800S, and 0.8% behind the RX 6600 XT.

Where Each One Wins

The AMD Radeon RX 5600 XT wins in every recorded head-to-head benchmark. Its dominance is strongest in Geekbench Metal, where it leads by 77.4%, and weakest in Geekbench Vulkan, where it still leads by 51.5%. This makes it the clear choice for compute-heavy workloads that leverage modern APIs, including OpenCL and Vulkan. The card's 7.188 TFLOPS of FP32 compute, its 6 GB GDDR6 memory, and its DirectX 12 (12_1) and Vulkan 1.4 support all contribute to this performance profile. For users running current games or GPU compute tasks on Windows, Linux, or macOS, the RX 5600 XT is the appropriate option.

The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 780 Ti, despite losing all head-to-head tests, still has areas where the data shows relative strength. Its memory bandwidth of 336.6 GB/s exceeds the RX 5600 XT's 288.0 GB/s, which can benefit bandwidth-sensitive workloads that fit within its 3 GB capacity. Its texture rate of 222.7 GTexel/s is nearly identical to the RX 5600 XT's 224.6 GTexel/s. The card also holds a higher percentile ranking (70th versus 66th) and a higher average benchmark score (24,236 versus 20,713), which reflects its standing across a broader set of tests. In the database's nearest rival comparisons, the GTX 780 Ti sits within 0.8% of the RX 6600 XT and within 0.3% of the RTX 2080 SUPER, indicating it remains competitive with much newer hardware in aggregate scoring.

For legacy system builders, the GTX 780 Ti offers 2x DVI outputs, which can be useful for older monitors, and its 384-bit bus provides high bandwidth for its era. However, its 3 GB memory capacity, 28 nm process, and 250 W TDP make it less suitable for modern high-resolution textures or power-constrained builds. The RX 5600 XT, with PCIe 4.0 x16 support, 6 GB of GDDR6, and a 150 W TDP, is the better fit for current platforms and efficiency-conscious users. The data does not show a single test where the GTX 780 Ti outperforms the RX 5600 XT, so any use case favoring the older card must rely on its aggregate score, its specific output options, or compatibility with older software rather than measured performance in the recorded benchmarks.